Last spring, Ian Hesford dropped to the stage from cardiac arrest while playing a show with his band, Telesma.
After 93 minutes of CPR, a hypothermic treatment and stents in his heart, Hesford survived. Knowing CPR saved their friend’s life, band members and dedicated fans took classes.
Telesma vocalist Joanne Juskus didn’t realize how soon she would put that training to the test.
In the middle of the night November 5,...

When the Virginia Aquarium Stranding Response team found Kermit washed ashore, the small green sea turtle was wasting away. X-rays showed balloons and plastic bags blocking Kermit’s throat.
Kermit and many turtles like him inspired the students at First Colonial High School in Virginia Beach to use the trash to get people talking. The student-artists created turtles stuffed with the balloons collected on the beach to demonstrate what turtles swallow.
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Think spring by creating a handcrafted butterfly to help the College of Southern Maryland stage I Never Saw Another Butterfly.
The play tells the story of Raja, one of 132 survivors from the 15,000 kids who went to Terezin. Nazis disguised the World War II concentration camp with flowerbeds and concert venues to deceive International Red Cross inspectors.
There Raja created an imaginary world with flowers and butterflies to give him and other children...

It was 403 years ago this month, in 1610, that Galileo Galilei trained his telescope at distant Jupiter, and discovered the first four and the largest of its many moons. The first discovery came on January 7, when the Italian scientist wrote of seeing in front of Jupiter “three fixed stars, totally invisible by their smallness.” Lo and behold, when he peered at the objects the next night, he found that they had changed positions, which led to the realization that these were not...

It seems to be working, and aren’t we glad.
The great old stories of rising from darkness into light, all synched to the winter solstice of our northern hemisphere, held the day. The battle of myths was lost by the doomsayers who predicted time’s termination on the ancient Mayan calendar’s last day. Now 12/21/12 joins Y2K in the museum of failed prophecies.
In and on earth, we’re all energized and confident, behaving as if we have...

After the September 11, 2001, attacks that murdered 3,000 Americans, Osama bin Laden became the world’s most-hunted man. Ten years later, the search continued.
For CIA agent Mya (Jessica Chastain: Lawless), the search for bin Laden is an obsession. She takes a position in the Pakistan bureau and spends every waking hour tracking obscure leads and interrogating detainees.
Over the years, Mya formulates a lead: a courier mentioned by several detainees...

Amazing stories brought to life with astonishing effect — this is theater at its best

For good old-fashioned escapist entertainment, Annapolis has never seen the likes of Colonial Players’ Shipwrecked. Commissioned by a children’s theatre, this play is unlike both Donald Margulies’ other plays and much of what dominates local stages during winter months. Audiences of all ages will love the story and Colonial’s innovative presentation.
The prolific, Pulitzer Prize-winning playwright — who is also a professor at Yale —...

Seed catalogs begin arriving in my mailbox with the new year. Is there a benefit in ordering from catalogs? Or is it just as good to buy seeds locally?
The variety of seeds at garden centers, hardware stores and some grocery stores is rather limited. Some like to tell customers that the seeds were especially selected for our area. It has been my experience that many seeds sold locally are chosen to provide dependable varieties that have survived the test of time.
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Anne Arundel County has the longest Bay shoreline in Maryland at 534 miles, embracing five major rivers and countless creeks and streams. It is home to 40,000 registered boaters. Yet unless you own waterfront property or live in a water-privileged community, you have virtually no access to the Chesapeake or its tributaries.
Last week the Anne Arundel County Department of Recreation and Parks presented a draft of a new Land Preservation, Parks and Recreation Plan. A number of...